LS6 V8-swapped 1975 Porsche 911 S Is Half Sacrilege, Half Awesome

Bob Radke, who’s a fuel-injection and ECU tuner by profession according to Hagerty, bought a canary yellow-painted 911 S a couple of years ago. Without an engine, the mid-‘70s Porsche was in dire need of a 2.7-liter boxer with 165 horsepower on tap. But Radke didn’t want to play by the rulebook, which is why he decided on the LS6.

Not to be confused with the GM 2500 four-cylinder and big-block engine found in the El Camino, the LS6 came into this world as the high-output version of the LS1 introduced in the 1997 Corvette. Stroked to 383 cubic inches and tuned to 603 horsepower, the V8 in this 911 cranks an earth-shattering 543 pound-feet of torque.

Tipping the scales at just around 2,490 pounds, the conversion from boxer to LS6 was made possible by Renegade Hybrids. As incredible as it sounds, “the engine slips in relatively easily.”

Hagerty highlights that the swap isn’t as plug-and-play as one would imagine. Radke had “to reverse-flow cool the engine for better combustion efficiency, sending water to the heads first, then the block.” The transmission’s mount has been modified somewhat while the radiator is forward canted in the nose of the 911 S.

Approximately 30 pounds lighter than the stock 911 S despite the larger engine and liquid cooling, significantly more powerful, and with better weight distribution, what more could you want from a restomod? Reliability is also on a different level, more so when you consider the 16-valve arrangement of the pushrod-design LS6.

Oh, and another thing to silence the haters out there: “Radke says putting the original flat-six back in would be no big deal, if he had the engine. And wanted to.”